Creamy Prawn Scampi Pasta (Step by Step Video)

Creamy prawn scampi pasta is a quick pasta recipe where prawn or shrimp is tossed in a garlic, butter and white wine sauce. Simple, yet indulgent, this recipe is perfect for date night or a quick dinner.

It’s Monday and I wanted to bring to you an incredibly easy but indulgent recipe. I’m clearly not a believer in Meatless Monday which is why we see all kinds of stuff on this blog on Mondays. I know the start of the week is crazy for most of us, but we just need to take a minute at the end of the day and indulge a little bit. Because whew! we just got through the worst day of the week – or is that Wednesday because you still have two more days to the weekend? Ha. Can’t decide. But this creamy prawn scampi pasta is really good any day of the week really!

We’ve had an incredible weekend, because I got a chance to speak at a summit in Jaipur about my journey as a food blogger, and hopefully, inspire other women to take a shot at doing what they love most. It was exhilarating, stimulating and really fun.

I kinda got back to an empty kitchen, but my freezer always has a bag of frozen prawns by ITC MasterChef that came to rescue this time. Recently I’ve been using frozen prawns a lot since learning how they can actually be better than fresh prawns, and the best part about frozen prawns is that they only take 15 minutes to thaw, which makes sure this whole meal comes together in under 30 minutes. Another great thing about using frozen prawns is that you don’t need to devein them or peel them. Everything comes ready and cleaned which makes an incredible difference when you don’t want to spend hours making dinner.

Key to a great prawn or shrimp scampi

The key to a great and really creamy prawn scampi pasta is the sauce. Its a quick sauce made with garlic, butter, olive oil lemon zest and juice and a white wine reduction that is finally finished with cream which adds a luxurious creaminess that feels both light and indulgent at the same time.

When making anything with pasta, the first thing to do is to make sure you salt the water really well. Because no matter what you do, extra salt while finally cooking the recipe will never add the right flavour. Also, with most pasta recipes reserve a little of that pasta water that you cooked the pasta in. The water already has the right stuff that you need to later thicken your sauce. Which is why both my aglio olio recipe and this one reserve some pasta water to use later.

Let’s just say a piping hot bowl of this creamy prawn scampi pasta is always always welcome. With extra parmesan on top!

Watch Creamy Prawn Scampi Pasta Recipe Video (Step by Step)

Thank to our friends at ITC Master Chef for sponsoring this post, and making sure we always eat prawns that are super safe. ITC Master Chef Prawns are available across stores in Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Bangalore.

Creamy Prawn Scampi Pasta (Step by Step Video)

Description

Creamy prawn scampi pasta is a quick pasta recipe where prawn or shrimp is tossed in a garlic, butter and white wine sauce. Simple, yet indulgent, this recipe is perfect for date night or a quick dinner.

Ingredients

200g/7oz frozen large Prawns

250g/9oz dried Tagliatelle pasta, or any other long strand pasta

2 tablespoons Butter, divided

2 tablespoons Olive Oil, divided

Salt and Pepper

5 Garlic Cloves, minced

1/2 cup dry White Wine

Zest and juice of 1 Lemon

3/4 cup Cream

2 tablespoons finely chopped Parsley

Grated Parmesan, for topping

Instructions

Defrosting Prawns: Transfer prawns to a bowl and cover with water. Set aside for 15 minutes or till they are completely thawed. Wash a few times with water and pat dry.

Cooking Pasta: Cook the pasta according to package instructions till al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water. Wash with cold water to avoid the pasta from sticking together and set aside.

Cooking the prawns: Heat a tablespoon of olive oil and butter in a pan and add the prawns. Sprinkle salt and pepper and cook the prawns for 3-4 minutes till almost cooked through. Transfer the prawns to a plate and set aside.

Sauce and toss: In the same pan, heat the remaining butter and olive oil and add the garlic. Cook the garlic on low heat for a minute till fragrant and pour in the white wine. Simmer the wine till reduced (see video) and add the lemon zest and juice, and the reserved pasta water. Simmer the sauce for a minute or two and add the cooked prawns. Pour in the cream and simmer for a minute to let the sauce thicken. Toss in the cooked pasta and mix well. Season with more salt according to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately topped with parmesan.

Notes

Wine: I like to use a dry white wine like sauvignon blanc. Fruity or sweet wine don’t work well in this recipe

Frozen Prawns: Frozen prawns have an advantage of being deveined and cleaned so they help save time while making this recipe, with the same great taste

Creamy pastas are one of our favs, especially when they have juicy big prawns like yours has in it. We’ll be giving this a try with our smaller shrimp and might also toss in a handful of frozen peas at the end of the pasta cook (it’s a Swedish thing). I remember visiting Jaipur and enjoying a delightful Italian meal at the Jal Mahal. Jaipur is so full of things and places to visit. Thanks for the lovely post.

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Meet Richa

I’m Richa, the cook, writer and photographer behind this little blog. I’ve grown up in the kitchen along side my mum and grandmothers and conversations in my family are always about the next meal. I’ve picked up their love for food along the way, and with this blog, I share my food story with you. I live in Bangalore, India with my husband Denver, who looks after the tech behind the blog, and happily samples everything you see on it! Read More…

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About My Food Story

I’m Richa, the cook, writer and photographer behind this little blog. I’ve grown up in the kitchen along side my mum and grandmothers and conversations in my family are always about the next meal. I’ve picked up their love for food along the way, and with this blog, I share my food story with you.